And since it was "Memoir Goes to the Movies", apparently only a double feature for me, out in the 2nd round and not a "Movie Marathon" that finished with a Championship!

Wednesday July 27th: Arrive in Pittsburgh, get a rental car and drive down to the resort and arrive at 1930 and meet up with John (Tank Commander) Skiba and get in a practice match of the 1st round scenario, PATTON, while awaiting the arrival of SAM (SAM1812) EDELSTON, who gets in just a little past midnight on July 28th and we crash for the night.

Thursday July 28th: Decide to start out the convention with a light game, FORMULA MOTOR RACING at 0900. 1st time playing and since it is for fun, played at the CRASH table, a card DRIVEN racing game and the one rule at the CRASH table, if you have a card that can CRASH a car out of the game, it must be played before the end of that game!! A round/game is 6 races, I finished dead last, but a beginner, but had fun and CRASHED out a few cars while racing!

Later that day, an overlord, KURSK, I lead the ALLIES team as CinC along with John (JAParker), David Brooks and Stephen (DocSteve) Smith against the AXIS, Sam, CinC and his team of Ethan, John (Tank Commander) Skiba and Chris Kalmbacher. We lost and that was that, no need to go into details!! Sam will do that.

Before the Mulligan Round, an unscheduled overlord, PARADROP at KANEV, ERIC (LOONEY LLAMA) MUSSO and myself as ALLIES against the team of SAM1812, Little Ethan and TANK COMMANDER as AXIS and proceed to lose that one as well. A good fight, just couldn't pull on the win.

Mulligan Round: Scenario PATTON, draw a young opponent, GEORGE KYROLLOS, he makes some mistakes in the 1st game, I win 6-0 and makes the 2nd game easier knowing I need 2 kills to advance and he wins 4-6 and I take the match and I advance to the 2nd round at 1100 on July 29th.

Friday July 29th: 2nd round, KELLY's HEROES, I draw JEFF CORNETT and he proceeds to blitz me in the 1st game, on the LEFT FLANK. He has ARM ASLT, a COUNTER of my COUNTER to his ARM ASLT, takes a GOLD BAR as well and next thing i know, a 1-6 win for JEFF and he has HANDED me my LUNCH!! I win the 2nd game, 6-3, he wins the match 7-9 and my MEMOIR'44 tournament is done in the 2nd round! Boo hoo!! I then proceed to enjoy some sights and food and drink as a result of my loss to JEFF.

Late that evening, 2300, another overlord, THE FORGOTTEN BATTLE, more tanks and this time I team up on the wining side with ERIC as CinC and SAM, DAVID SCHNEIDER and myself as ALLIES and with Sam getting some good rolls on ARMOR, defeated TANK COMMANDER as AXIS CinC and his team of JOE (GONZJO) HARRISON, his pal TOM and MANUEL.

Saturday July 30th: With the MEMOIR'44 tournament done, decide to take a shot at BATTLE CRY, the CIVIL WAR cousin of MEMOIR'44. Slightly different tournament format than that of MEMOIR'44. Preliminary round of 3 GAMES, not matches, playing either UNION or CONFEDERATE forces depending on choice and must get 2 game wins to advance to the next round. Scenario repeats for the 3 games, this case, CHICKAMAUGA and lost my 1st game 5-6 to young AIDAN POWERS and then win my next 2 games against the father and son team of JAMES BELL and ALEX BELL, 6-3 and 6-2 I believe and advance to the next round.

From there, 2nd BULL RUN is the scenario, played JEFF LANGE, defeat him 6-4, on to CHRIS YAURE, win 6-2 in the same scenario and advance to the Final 5 and am matched up against DAVID SCHNEIDER, winner of the MEMOIR'44 tournament and we played PRAIRIE GROVE and I lose on his last turn, 5-7 and narrowly missed winning on my turn the turn before. Finish 5th in that tournament, think 44 players there and DAVID goes on to win BATTLE CRY as well and adds to his MEMOIR'44 win!!

While playing BATTLE CRY missed out on 2 other overlords, THE SWORD of STALINGRAD and MILNE BAY, heard both were much fun!

Last hurrah, WACHT AM RHEIN, BATTLE of the BULGE OVERTHROUGH, I team up with SAM1812 and DOCSTEVE as ALLIES and defeat the team of MICHAEL SHEA, JAParker and MANUEL, think it was 34-29. Interesting set up and plays more like 3 individual battles and not as much working together as with an overlord.

Sunday July 31st: Pack up my bags and head back to COLORADO!! Great time and enjoyed all my gaming, WIN or LOSE!! Great meeting everyone from the online community and hope to return next year or perhaps stick to the 2 year cycle, 2014, 2016, 2018....

Attached are some pics, well more than just some, but enjoy nonetheless!! Names have been changed to protect the innocent!!

Just a little question:
Did you play the Patton scenarios with the optional rule where one side plays with their hand cards revealed?
That's how it was played at the Belgian Open.

No, it was decided not to use that rule before hand and think Sam might have WAFFLED back and forth about using it like it was used in the BELGIAN OPEN. Besides Sam, not sure who else might have actually read that book!! I at least have seen the movie and not sure it helped me! Was the age of my opponent that did, though I know there are some very good younger players out there in M'44!!

Just a little question:
Did you play the Patton scenarios with the optional rule where one side plays with their hand cards revealed?
That's how it was played at the Belgian Open.

No, it was decided not to use that rule before hand and think Sam might have WAFFLED back and forth about using it like it was used in the BELGIAN OPEN. Besides Sam, not sure who else might have actually read that book!! I at least have seen the movie and not sure it helped me! Was the age of my opponent that did, though I know there are some very good younger players out there in M'44!!

Gonzalan

If you ever get a chance to play the scenario with that rule, you should. I can assure you it adds a whole other layer of strategy.

Based on the pictures posted by Gonzalan, GEORGE KYROLLOS has certainly considerably decreased the average age of this fantastic group of players !

And based on my own experience during the last Open de France, the average age of the french players is also quite honorable .... even if I would say a little bit younger that the Americans ones

But the most important is to remain young in our heads !!

GEORGE was photo shopped, he was actually much, much, much older that his picture shows!! But, yes, some very good and honorable players on both sides of the pond and nice to know that the "younger" generation is taking an interest in the game.

Same in BATTLE CRY, ETHAN and AIDAN POWERS, both qualified from the preliminary rounds earlier in the week, winning 2 games to advance.

And now that you mention it Jeroen, seems like a saw one or 2 people that could have passed for you, tall, glasses and parading around in wooden shoes!! Not exactly Pennsylvania Dutch country like in Lancaster, but a wonderful experience and amazing as to all the types of games and tournaments that are played during the 9 day span of WBC. And I only experienced 3 of those games myself.

Figured if I only attend every 2 years, so far, might as well share the experience, much like you and your group with the Dutch Open and those of the French and Belgian Opens.

Originally I was up in the air on attending this year as I had some concerns about the new venue including the additional distance I needed to travel to get there. Another issue was where to stay and the probable additional cost of lodging. As I had stayed by myself for the seven out of eight prior years attending the WBC, I did not take the increased logistics lightly.

The biggest hurdle for me was getting the time off from work to attend. Luckily I have been able to do so for the past eight years to a degree. One year it was for a one day mad dash to play in the Memoir ’44 tournament and I stayed up for 26 hours to do so. Most other years it was a two or three day stay. But I would not know for sure until sometime in the middle of January if I could get the time off. Unfortunately, that complicates making lodging arrangements. Well, I was able to have the entire week off and thus this made my journey possible.

I had some contact with Sam E. as he inquired if I would attend this year. Sam has run the Memoir ’44 tournament for the past several years. He wanted to know if I was available to serve as an AGM for that event again. I stated to him that the biggest hurdle to me going was arranging where to stay. Sam offered to let me stay at his motel (about a 15 min ride from the resort) and I took him up on his offer. Later Tony, who had booked a room on site for his stay, generously said we could stay with him. Well being on site is better than off site and I am glad it worked out that way as most nights the gaming went on to past midnight. That 15 min drive on 2 lane rural routes to get back to the offsite motel would have been made after 1 am. Walking back to the resort room beat that hands down.

I had been fortunate to attend the WBC for the past eight years and now I would extend that streak to nine years.

My original plan had been to leave home early on the 27th Thursday morning so as to play in the C & C Ancients tournament at 9am. But as Tony had the room starting on Wednesday, I decided it was best to leave a day early and thus be fresh for Thursday.

Wednesday July 27th:

Leave the Binghamton area at around 1:30 pm with printed directions, a brand new Pennsylvania paper map (just in case) and my Garmin plugged in. It was hard to find a 300 mile long extension cord. My printed directions differed from the Garmin route but it was a pleasant drive along some nice 2 lane routes until I hooked up with a highway later on. I did not run into any construction and the traffic was light with no close calls along the way. It sort of surprised me at how quickly I arrived at the resort. It seemed like one minute I was getting off the highway to get there and then I am there. Then I got “lost” by going to the upper parking lot instead of the lower area. But I parked in the upper lot and then made my way into the resort. I stopped at the gift shop and had a pleasant chat with the young lady (Amanda) who was working there. I bought a coffee mug and a shot glass (I will not reveal who that was for). I then proceeded to the room to meet up with Tony. After getting my gear squared away, Tony and I square off in a practice match of PATTON. We keep getting updates from Sam who finally knocks on the door on Thursday. Good man, that. He pressed on in one go to get here instead of stopping along the way. Then it is time to hit the cot and doze off for a bit.

Thursday July 28th:

I get up before 7am and then head down to eat breakfast with Sam and Tony. Then I am off to enter in the C & C Ancients tournament. In prior WBCs I had only played in one other tournament (WAR at SEA) as I had focused on the Memoir ’44 tournament and demo events. So, this was a nice change of pace as each player would play at least 3 games and the scenarioas opposed to the one and done match format of Memoir ’44. I got off to a bad start before even starting my first game. We were instructed to setup the first scenario in the base game. I started to setup Akragas but it turns out the scenario that was to be played was Bagradas. It turns out my 2005 rules did not have that scenario (or 4 others for that matter) and I had to borrow a setup sheet from another player. I played Carthagian side in all three games after bidding 1 banner to do so. I figured that playing the side with 6 cards was better for my experience level than the Roman side with 4 cards. I lost my first game 2 to 4 (we ran out of time) to Mark M. The interesting thing about that game was our missile fire was so bad we wondered if our archers were facing the enemy. For that game my 30+ shots only got 2 hits. In game 2 I prevailed 7 to 5 in spite of two of my elephants going down to a total of 7 dice. My last game was against Jack M. and I lost 3 to 7. I could have won if my elephant attacks rolled average dice. I played I am Spartacus and got 5 orders. Three elephants went into the fray but one whiffed on his 5d roll and another was wiped out with the First Strike card. My other elephant did kill off one unit but it took the bonus attack to finish it off. The Roman center was still in trouble but my other two elephants went down without so much as a whimper to a few lucky die rolls. The battle then shifted to my left and it could have went either way but a key miss on a 1 fig infantry hurt badly and my left was mauled and the battle lost. So I finish with a 1-2 record and 12 medals and I am done here. Jack was 3-0 with 21 medals and is the clear winner in my group.

After grabbing a bit to eat, I play in the KURSK Overlord Demo game. I got to do what I do best as the center German FG and used my panzers to crush the Soviet center. Although both our flanks got into trouble later in the game, we prevailed.

Later I play in PARADROP at KANEV run by ERIC (LOONEY LLAMA) M. I play the German left FG and face Tony. His Russians make good progress to start but then my armor moves up and does good work including taking out the Mobile Artillery. The German team comes out on top in ths close contest.

Sam E. asks me to run the Memoir ’44 demo at 8pm. I do so and go over the game with over 10 players. It goes relatively well although I wish I had handouts ready and worked from a script. But this was a last minute thing for me so I had to make do.

Mulligan Round: The scenario is PATTON and I do have misgivings about this one. A few good cards for one side or the other or a lack of cards for a given section can really skew the results. I have never lost in the Mulligan round in seven tries but this year it did happen. I won the first game 6 to 5 as the US. But my Germans in game one had trouble dealing with the US infantry and then the US armor got rolling. Back to back 3 tank US ARMOR ASSAULTs and a 7 unit CENTER ASSAULT crushed my center. In my last three turns I could only order a few units and helplessly watched as I lost 2 to 6. Well, it looks like I need to get up earlier than I was used to on Friday. I do manage to get to sleep sometime before 1am even with visions of Patton’s tanks still clanking about in my head.

Friday July 29th:

I enter the 1st round at 9am and play PATTON again. I lose game 1 as the Germans but with a better score of 5 to 6. I could have won this one but my hit rate on the US infantry was poor. I then crush the Germans in the return game 6 to 1 and I am on to round 2.

Round 2: I manage a sweep in KELLYS HEROS. My US side gets lucky early on and I kill off the Tiger with a grenade reroll after getting one hit from a 2d attack on it. I also used BEL to grab one of the gold ingots for a medal and managed to move that unit away from danger and keep the gold for the rest of the game. In the return game my Germans get both gold medals and this puts a lot of pressure on the U.S. I win the battle on my right and my opponent spends the later part of the game trying out how to win the game in a way to allow him a match win. He has to deny me one or both gold ingot medals and get to 6 medals too. I have two chances to win the game outright when leading 5 to 4. But I miss on two chances to kill a 1 figure infantry (83% and 67%). I finally end it with my Tiger which finishes off a 2 fig infantry on my left.

Rd 3: My Germans lose 4 to 6 as the Brits play many good cards. My opening hand had three cards for each flank and none for the center. I did not play my first center card till my 5th turn and my center panzers were eliminated without ever getting a chance to move. Late in the game I trailed 2 to 4 and was in deep trouble. My main right offensive forces were still on the wrong side of the river. This left me with only 2 units on my left with which to conduct an offensive to go medal hunting. I did have cards for this flank and managed two kills to bump up my score to a manageable 4 medals but I was concerned by the 9 fig difference. In game 2 my Brits had good cards. I grabbed the permanent medal on Turn 1 using BEL (whiffing with 4d on an infantry along the way) but lost ended up trailing 1 to 2 at the end of that turn. My Heroic Leader was on the bridge and took three hits and worse a double flag. I had to take both flags to avoid a 3d panzer attack but the armor could still get off a 1d shot and it killed my HL unit and then eliminated the Leader. Trying for a 6 to 3 win now would be nearly impossible and now that 9 fig differential had swelled to 13. I did win that game but could get the difference down to 4 figs but as the dice for most of the game were not dropping my way, getting that close was pretty good. Four more figs and my tiebreaker number sees me advance to round 4. I probably should have been more patient and did mistakenly think I had lost game one by a 3 to 6 score while trying to keep track of the figure count late in game 2.

I then take a much needed break and return later to check out some of the action in the later rounds.

I then am the German CinC in THE FORGOTTEN BATTLE and we start sometime around midnight. Our center seems to be in trouble early on with the left holding their positions and our right doing some damage later on. Joe H. gets additional armor and seems to be on the verge of crushing the Brits on the Allied left. But an AMBUSH negates a panzer attack ordered by ARMOR ASSAULT and the rest of Joe's attacks roll poorly on the infantry in the open. Then Sam kills an Elite Panzer with 4d (I think a 1% chance here), a 2 fig panzer with 4d (41% chance) and finally a Tiger with a 1d reroll. All these rolls happened in a row (to say that Sam had good dice is a bit of an understatement). In a flash possible disaster for the Allies turned into a stunning turn of events. Considering that both our left and center were now in trouble and our right shattered, our team conceded.

After helping to pick up it is off to the room for some sleep.

Saturday July 30th:

I was considering entering in the BATTLECRY tournament but as I had gotten off to a late start and had not reviewed the rules, I passed on this event. Kudos for Tony for placing 5th there. I checked it out a bit later then went off to help Sam with THE SWORD of STALINGRAD OL demo game. I was in charge of the German left which is infantry heavy with a few tanks and face many German panzers. Sam plays a key Combat Card early on which is ARMOR FORWARD and is able to advance some of his panzers very quickly into my defenses. But Sam pays for his good fortune from last night in that OL game as now he cannot hit my infantry. I give as good as I get in spite of the fact I have no card to play in three or four turns and have to roll for Initiative. We both kill off 6 units and I have fought him to a stalemate. Our side controls more of the factory hexes than the Germans and the German center gets into trouble. Our Russians manage a close win here by a 17 to 15 score.

Later I am the center Allied FG in MILNE BAY and we stop the Japanese cold. But a late game Japanese TFH that probably should have netted 4 medals and could have gotten 6 only gets two.

I then take another break to eat and chill out a bit.

I then return to the Festival Room at about 6:30 to start setting up my 8pm demo game, WACHT AM RHEIN, BATTLE of the BULGE OVERTHROUGH. I had taken about 6 hrs at home before I left for WBC to gather all the components for this massive setup and set them aside and I am glad I did. It would have been a nightmare to do the setup without the preloading. By the way, a big thank for goes out to Randy who wandered by and helped with the setup even though I could not offer a spot at the table for him.

We play it with each board of two players using their own breakthrough deck. I oversee things, take a few notes and some pictures.

The Germans cannot make any real progress on the flanks but the center does manage some progress. Overall, the offensive does not go well and the Paras on the right are released early to help bolster the forward lines there although I think the US would have held without them.
The score looked close in the end but really was a clear US win.

We all do a quick pickup and then back to the room. I get to sleep a bit after 2am.

Sunday July 31st:

I and rise before 8am as I wish to hit the road before 9am. I try to be as quiet as I can but end up making some noise which I am sure will awake Sam. It turns out he slept through it all.

I get into my car and my Garmin promptly gets me lost. At one point I am riding down a narrow 2 lane back road which is not even paved. I am low on gas and am staring to worry about that. I finally follow my instincts and head down a real road. I get directions from some people who had been fishing and fill up my tank which had been getting low and head out in the right direction after wasting about 45 mins. The trip back is pleasant for the most part but early on I am behind a driver on a 2 lane country road. He is doing anywhere from 40 to 55 in a 55 and his inconsistent speed is puzzling. After coming over a rise I see an opening with a 2 mile flat section of road where passing is allowed and I do so. This turns out to be only “speed bump” in the travel back. I arrive home sometime after 4pm and another WBC in the books.

I offer up a big thank you to Tony for the room (and many laughs) and to Sam for running my favorite event again.

Hey docsteve, glad you could make it again. Too bad we did not get around to having a Shocktop together. But as you know, it seems like the WBC is one big chaotic event from beginning to end and no matter how well you plan to do things, those plans – to quote a famous military saying “do not survive the first contact with the enemy” – lol.

I did take some pics and will post them later.

Sorry for such a lengthy narrative but for those of you who fell asleep halfway through, I guess you will not see this apology

"A wonderful new novelist has hit the American scene and he bares the name of John Skiba." Time Magazine

"A must read if you have never attended any WBC." Geeks R US

"Reading John's narrative, I was totally immersed as if I was actually there." JJAZ

John,

Your take on events and the next great American novel, made my report read like a childrens' storybook!! Which I think it was since I viewed the events of WBC and my stay with child-like wonder!

For you, for now, your written word is worth a 1000 pictures!! Give or take 999....thanks for your view on things even if in the end or towards the end, it got you lost!! Glad you enjoyed your stay and was happy to take you and Sam back to the days of your youth and sharing a room like you might have done in college!!